… and now, he has hockey back, too

… and now, he has hockey back, too

On October 21, 2006, Brockport Golden Eagle freshman goaltender Todd Sheridan officially completed his comeback. On that Saturday, with his family in the stands, he registered his first collegiate victory as the Golden Eagles came from behind to defeat Buffalo State 5-3.

“I was playing for the Sarnia (Ontario, Canada) Junior Blast in 2004-05 and toward the middle of the season I noticed a lump on my neck,” said Sheridan after a recent practice. “It wasn’t a big deal; maybe an infected lymph node and annoying more than anything and I forgot about it. But it continued to grow. I finished that season and the playoffs, went home and met with a doctor who told me that he was 99 percent sure it was maybe a cyst.

“So I went back for the awards ceremony for Sarnia where I won the Most Valuable Player award. Then I had my first surgery on April 17, 2005. The results came back as cancer and they had only cut it in half. The doctor’s prognosis was almost as bad as it can get, so I decided to change doctors and it was recommended that I go to the University of Pennsylvania.”

“Within five minutes of being in the doctor’s office with the main surgeon, he found the primary source of the cancer was on my tongue. Finding the primary source increased my chances of living to about 70 percent, which wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it could have been worse. From there I had the main surgery which was a modified radical neck dissection where they cut from my chin to my ear to my right shoulder along with removing a half-dollar size portion of my tongue.”

Three weeks after surgery, Sheridan began a six week cycle of radiation and chemotherapy in the summer of 2005 ending August 26 -- the day after his 21st birthday.

Doctors had told Sheridan he would never play hockey again, but he was back on the ice with his old team in Sarnia three weeks after the final round of radiation. He didn’t play a minute in any game last season, but was invited to try out at Brockport and spent this past summer getting back into shape.

Heading into a Thanksgiving weekend that will undoubtedly be remembered in the Sheridan household, the freshman already had three wins and a tie plus a one-goal loss to a top-ten ranked team as he has back-stopped the Golden Eagles to their best start in several years. He ranked fifth in the nation in minutes played and stood sixth in the conference in goals against average.

“I was never supposed to be able to move my arm ever again, but I found I could, so I decided to give this a try. Hockey was the last thing in my life that I needed to get back and that win over Buffalo State solidified that I have my life back—in fact I think it’s even better. I bit my tongue not trying to cry in front of everybody and was able to hold it until I got in the locker room. I have the game puck sitting on my TV at home.”

With Todd’s urging, the team is beginning to organize a fundraiser called “Saves for a Cure,” where local companies will donate money for every save made by a Brockport goaltender with all funds raised donated to the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester.

“I think hockey saved my life,” concluded Sheridan. “Dealing with pressure since I was five years old. I think what separated me from some other people that go through it is the idea that, if it comes back, I’ll be ready for it. For me I wasn’t supposed to ever play again, barely live, and less than a year later I’m playing Division III hockey. If telling my story helps, then I’ll tell it forever. No matter what they say, just keep fighting.”